Black Nightwing
by The.Shadow.Night
Summary: Dick Grayson is a full time college student, leader of the Justice League's covert ops team, and currently the sole protector of Gotham City. He's overworked, stressed, and ready to crack. When a new villain takes to the streets, it may be the straw that breaks the camel's back. Will Nightwing survive? Will he ever be the same?
1. Nightwing

**Black Nightwing**

**Nightwing**

Dick collapsed on his bed. After a long day of college classes and patrolling Gotham it was time for some well-deserved rest.

That's when he remembered he was supposed to meet the Team at the Mountain for a bit of training. He was going to show then how to work and hide in the dark, something he was an expert at.

He groaned and got up out of bed. He had told Bruce that he could handle everything while he and Tim were away, and he couldn't go back on his word now. So, to the Mountain it was for training.

When he arrived, it was chaos. Half the Team was asleep from the late hour. Nightwing felt their pain. It was late. He had only called the training session because Miss Martian was worried their new members wouldn't be able to handle a fight in the dark.

"All right guys, let's get to it," he said, leading them outside.

They played paintball in the trees. He always tried to make training fun as well as relevant, and he couldn't think of anything better to do to make them see how important it was to use the darkness to hide yourself, as well as how to track and find things in the dark.

He took to hiding in a tall tree where he could keep an eye on everything. His mask had night vision built in for moments such as these, and he was able to keep track of who was doing well, and who needed more work.

Soon, the sun came up and they all went back in. "Good work everyone. I'll keep this short. We need to work on fighting in the dark, but from now on it won't be so late at night. I just needed to see how you did late in the dark. Now I know what we need to work on, we can do that."

Everyone nodded and went home. Nightwing did the same. Only, he went home and got ready for class, seeing as his first class was at eight. He yawned and managed to stay awake through it with a lot of coffee. He went through his other classes as well, which required more coffee.

After classes, it was back to the Mountain to update security, comment on Miss Martian's newest recipe, and help the younger teammates with their fighting forms.

Then it was back to Gotham, the Riddler had escaped. After a brief chase and a quick fight, he was locked back in Arkham again.

Dick once again fell into bed. Then he remembered he had an English paper due tomorrow. So, he got up and wrote that.

This had been the norm for him ever since Bruce Wayne and Tim Drake had been practically forced to go on a Father/Son vacation with a whole bunch of other rich families. They went around the world, raising money for charity. Bruce just couldn't say no to that without causing questions, and Dick said he could handle patrolling Gotham with Barbara while he was gone.

Then Barbara got the opportunity to study abroad for a semester. She was studying to be a child psychologist, and the trip included several sessions helping and learning from professional psychologists. Dick told her to go, he was great at multitasking. So, she left. And now here he was, loosing his mind.

Dick was barely making it by. With everything he had to do, he was living on coffee, hadn't slept in days, and was starting to get sloppy when fighting.

Finally, the weekend arrived. Instead of sleeping, though, he was called to the Mountain. M'gann needed advice on what to make for dinner. Wondergirl wanted him to show her a hold she had seen him use. Impulse wanted him to tell stories of his greatest battles. Mal wanted dating advice. Batgirl called to say hi.

He literally collapsed that night. He had promised he could do this, but his sanity was wavering like a flag in the wind. He passed out, not knowing that the biggest challenge was waiting ahead. It would either make him great, or destroy him.

* * *

**Woo! I'm back from vacation. That means a new story! This was written for yumi2482. I hope it will meet your expectations.**

**-Shadow**


	2. Black Night

**Black Nightwing**

**Black Night**

Black Night chuckled as he looked over Gotham. This was going to be too easy.

He jumped off the roof and caught a glimpse of himself in the nearby window. He was young, about 18, and wore a dark black Kevlar suit. A matching belt hung around his waist. He had matching gloves and boots. His face was adorned with a pair of dark sunglasses, obscuring his eyes. He was armed to the tooth, ready for any challenge.

He whipped out a grappling gun and shot it at a nearby building. It caught him and pulled him into an arc. It was time to put his plan in motion.

In a nearby warehouse, he had already started collecting the parts necessary to build a nuclear device. Only a few more were needed, and he planned to get those soon.

He crouched on the roof of the building across from a small Gotham lab. They had the next piece he needed. He burst in, not caring if he set off any alarms. By the time the police arrived, he would be long gone. As would any evidence.

Smoke filled the sky as he happily, almost psychotically, slipped away from the scene. In the warehouse he added it to his nuke. Soon, he would be able to hold Gotham ransom.

He would use the money to buy a small island and there, live out his life without a care, beautiful women hanging off both arms, plenty of booze to go around.

It would be perfect.

All he needed was a few more pieces to the puzzle. Soon, the city would learn that the Black Night was in town, and he was in a genocidal mood. The city would fall to its knees and beg for mercy. And he would laugh because he had no room for mercy in his life.

He wanted them all to die.

Gotham was a rotten city. It was full of muggers, thieves, villains and prostitutes. No one cared about anyone else. Except for maybe Bruce Wayne, the White Knight of Gotham, but he wasn't here anymore. There was no one left to save in the city. It deserved to burn.

Then, maybe they could start over. Renew the sense of decency people should have towards each other. Black Night made a realization. He wasn't really a villain. He was a hero. A dark hero, but a hero nonetheless.

And maybe that would make all the difference.

* * *

**So, change of plans. My computer's not letting me post new stories,so until I can get that fixed, enjoy a new chapter of this one. **

**Have a tiggerific day,**

**Shadow**


	3. Arson

**Black Nightwing**

**Arson**

Nightwing rushed towards the source of the smoke. There, he found one of Gotham's top laboratories had been burnt to the ground. He frowned as he surveyed the carnage. Who would have done such a thing? All of the major villains of Gotham were in Arkham or Belle Reve.

He appeared in front of the police officers surveying the scene. "What happened here?"

Commissioner Gordon turned to talk to him. "The lab burnt down. From what we're seeing, it looks like arson. Then there's this note…"

"Take me to it."

Gordon nodded and led him over to the parking lot next to the smoldering lab remains. There, written in red paint, a message stood out clear and bright.

_Don't try and stop me. Love, Black Night_

Nightwing reached down and touch the message. His fingertips came back red.

"He was here recently. That means we have a chance to catch him. What did the lab have that he could have wanted?"

"The lab was dealing with small amounts of radioactive isotopes," Gordon replied. "We've checked the area, it's radiation free."

Nightwing nodded. It was all making sense now. He disappeared to the Mountain. There, M'gann, Connor, Bart, Cassie and Gar were getting ready for bed.

"Everyone suit up," he said. "I need help in Gotham."

He met everyone later in the mission room to discuss what had happened. He then assigned each of them a sector around the lab, stretching farther into Gotham.

"We need to leave now, before he gets away," Nightwing stressed.

M'gann stepped forwards. "Cassie, Bart, and Gar have school tomorrow morning, maybe they should stay here."

"No," Nightwing snapped. "We need to find this guy ASAP."

They all nodded and Zeta'd to Gotham. They spread out and searched for Black Night all night. Nightwing grew increasingly agitated as their search continued to turn up nothing.

"Keep searching!" he ordered when they all agreed that this search was getting them nowhere.

They eventually had to give up the search, however. But not after every mugger, mobster, and thug in Gotham had run for the hills after facing Nightwing's wrath.

They all agreed that something was wrong with him, but they couldn't place it. He was acting strange, almost obsessive over the burnt lab, for no apparent reason. They went back to the Mountain and got ready for school. Maybe after Batman got back it would get better.

Little did they know it was already too late.

* * *

**I'm in a very ominous mood. Also, I'm wanting to start a YJ birthday story, so if you want, PM me your birthday and a prompt and I'll write a one-shot for your birthday. See ya next time!**

**-Shadow**


	4. Chase

**Black Nightwing**

**Chase**

Nightwing watched the city around him carefully. It had been two days since the lab burned down and he had been searching for Black Night the whole time. Eventually, he would make a mistake. It would happen. And when it did, he would be there to catch him.

A slight movement out of the corner of his eye caused him to turn his head. There! He jumped off the building and did a few flips as he landed on the roof of the next, chasing after the figure he had seen. He lost him after a few minutes, and stopped once again to watch.

Black Night was growing frustrated. He had been unable to complete his plans due to Nightwing's insistence on finding him. There was little time before Bruce Wayne returned and he wouldn't feel right destroying the city with him in it.

Nightwing caught another glimpse of Black Night as he traveled across the city on Gotham's rooftops. He called Miss Martian and Superboy for backup, then proceeded to chase Black Night around.

Miss Martian and Superboy caught up with Nightwing. "Black Night's here, let's split up and bring him in."

The two nodded and went off in separate directions. Nightwing slipped into the Shadows to watch for any sign of Black Night.

Black Night walked through the dark alleyways of Gotham. He was making his way towards Wayne Tech for another part to his nuke when he saw a figure fly above him. He flattened himself against the alley wall as he watched Miss Martian circle above.

She couldn't be allowed to find him. He went off at a fast walk in another direction, trying not to stick out from the crowd. He went halfway across Gotham, to another lab with a part he needed, and ducked back in the shadows to avoid Superboy.

This was getting bad fast. Nightwing would no doubt be watching the rooftops. He had nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. It would be best just to go home now and try another day. It started to rain, which gave him an excuse to run.

On top of Wayne Tower, Nightwing watched the people below. He saw a solitary figure run in front of the building. Somehow, he knew it was Black Night.

_Miss Martian, Superboy, convene on Wayne Tower. He's here._ Nightwing said through the mental link. He dropped to the street level and began following Black Night.

Meanwhile, Black Night noticed he was being followed. He ducked in an alley and began performing evasive maneuvers to lose his tracker. Miss Martian flew above them, and Superboy stood at the end of the alley. Black Night decided now was the time to disappear, and that he did.

Nightwing ran up to Superboy. "Where is he?"

"I didn't see anyone," Superboy replied.

"He was right there and you let him get away! I knew I shouldn't have trusted you!" Nightwing yelled, punching the nearby wall.

Bricks cracked under the pressure, and Miss Martian landed nearby. "Nightwing, no one ran out of the alley."

He looked at her confused. "You must both be missing things. He was there. Now I've got to go find him."

"Do you want us to help?" Superboy asked.

"No!" Nightwing yelled, angrily walking away.

He was so tired of this, of all of this. He couldn't lead a group of inadequate fools. They couldn't even catch a guy running through an alleyway! How could he trust them on a mission now?

He went home, calling it a night. He lay in bed an hour later, twitching at every noise, his mind racing, paranoia rising. Clearly, he could only rely on himself now. He had to stop Black Night, he didn't know exactly why, but felt like it was an imperative.

He had to save everyone, alone.

* * *

**Yikes, still really behind. I'm going to be doing a lot of writing this weekend. Before Prom. And after After Prom. It's going to be a busy weekend.**

**-Shadow**


	5. Homicidal

**Black Nightwing**

**Homicidal**

Black Night punched the wall repeatedly.

This 'Nightwing' was ruining his plans, and he only had a few days left to complete his little project. He looked over to the table where the nuke sat. He had to do this.

He calmed down a bit and went to watch out the window. Nightwing was still searching for him, he was sure of it. He had hoped his disappearing act earlier would convince the Martian and the Clone that Nightwing was loosing it, but nothing had changed.

Except…

They had left. Nightwing was left alone. That meant he could be tracked. He could be killed.

Black Night felt a grin growing on his face. Tonight, Nightwing would sleep with the fishes.

-Breakline-

Nightwing paced back and forth in the Batcave. He couldn't understand how his teammates could be so obtuse that they missed Black Night.

He truly couldn't trust them anymore. At least, until they'd had more training. That meant he was completely alone.

Nightwing yawned as he went to work on the Batcomputer. He needed to know where Black Night would attack next to that he could be there to stop him.

A few hours later, he left to go to his college classes. Then to the Mountain to institute a new training program. Then on patrol to stop Black Mask from delivering guns to a group of thugs. Then back to the Batcave to work.

He didn't sleep, didn't eat, didn't talk to anyone. He just worked. But that was the way he wanted it, right? The darkness, the solitude.

He was turning into Batman, and he didn't mind anymore. Truth was, he only cared about one thing, and that was catching Black Night.

A couple days later, the day before Bruce came home, he went out, confident that he knew where Black Night was going to attack next.

He would do his duty to protect Gotham, even if it meant paying the ultimate price. Even if it meant stepping over the line and into darkness.

* * *

**These chapters keep getting shorter and shorter. But next chapter should be pretty long, seeing as it's the final showdown. Then we have a short epilogue. And then we're done here. Hope you're still enjoying this, yumi.**

**Have a surprising day,**

**Shadow**


	6. Nuke

**Black Nightwing**

**Nuke**

Black Night cackled in delight as he fitted the last piece into his nuclear device. Nightwing had been so busy searching for him around Gotham, it had been simple to dress as a civilian, sneak into the lab as a tourist, and grab the piece he needed.

Now, all that was left was to detonate it. The only problem was that Nightwing, as annoying as he was, was a decent guy. Like Batman and Bruce Wayne. He deserved to survive.

He pushed the thought away and began preparing the device for detonation. After all, he was a great guy, a hero, and he was going to die. Everyone died eventually; he might as well do it now.

Nightwing zeroed in on an abandoned apartment building. He had been tracking Black Night for two days straight, even allowing him to steal a part from a lab, just so he could corner him in his home.

He burst through the window and into the apartment Black Night was staying in. He arrived just as Black Night was reaching for the detonator.

"I was hoping you'd show up," Black Night smirked.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Nightwing replied before unleashing a flurry of punches and kicks on the villain.

Black Night blocked them all and managed to knock Nightwing back. "You're going to have to do better than that."

Nightwing growled in anger. "Then try this on for size."

He flipped himself back up and once again attacked, using more acrobatic moves to try and confuse Black Night. Black Night seemed to know where he planned to attack, though, and was once again able to block every attack.

"How are you doing this?" Nightwing almost screamed in frustration.

Black Night merely smiled. "I believe the two of us are more similar than you would think."

"I am nothing like you!"

"If that's what you want to believe…"

Black Night started attacking him. It was all he could do to block the kicks and punches coming towards him at what seemed like inhuman speed.

Nightwing flipped backwards, pulling out some smoke pellets and dropping them to the ground as he did. The room quickly grew dark with the thick smoke, and Black Night paused.

"Let's see you find me now," Nightwing cackled, moving silently around the room.

Black Night attacked him as if the smoke wasn't even there. Nightwing reeled back in surprise. That move had always worked before. Why wasn't it working now?

"I believe it's my turn," Black Night said, pulling out a gun and pressing it against Nightwing's head.

"Who are you?" Nightwing forced out. "Jason?"

Black Night laughed. "I'm much better than Jason."

"Then who?"

Black Night ignored the question. "I'm going to give you this chance to get out of Gotham. This is my war, not yours. Go home to Blüdhaven. Work there. Leave Gotham to me."

"Never."

"Then I'll be forced to kill you along with the rest of this pathetic city."

Black Night shoved him roughly to the ground and pressed the detonator. Nightwing just sat up and grinned as the device did nothing. Black Night wrinkled his brow and pressed the button several more times.

"Why isn't this working!" he yelled.

"I spent some time during the past few days to figure out what you were building. I tampered with a few of the parts you stole before you stole them as a backup plan," Nightwing grinned cockily.

"I will destroy you!" Black Night bellowed in anger.

He pulled out his gun and started shooting at Nightwing. Nightwing ducked and dodged the bullets. The door opened as Miss Martian and Superboy arrived.

"Get him!" Nightwing yelled.

But the two just stood there, confused looks on their faces.

Nightwing continued to dodge bullets. "What are you waiting for?"

Superboy didn't even flinch as a couple bullets hit him in the chest.

"Nightwing, there's no one here," Miss Martian said.

Black Night was reloading his guns. "Seems like your friends don't want to help you."

"What do you mean?" Nightwing said, sending exploding wingdings at Black Night while he was distracted.

Superboy and Miss Martian dodged the wingdings. They didn't even come close to Black Night.

"You are the only other person in this room, Nightwing," Superboy replied.

"But he's right there!" Nightwing yelled, pointing to him.

"He's not," Miss Martian said quietly.

Nightwing looked straight at Black Night, suddenly noticing the similarities between the two. He ran over and ripped the sunglasses off of Black Night's face.

He saw his own.

Nightwing reeled back in shock. Black Night smirked.

"Gotcha."

Black Night disappeared, leaving Nightwing alone in the room with a nuke, Miss Martian, and Superboy.

"He was a splinter of your personality," Miss Martian said. "You've been so stressed since Batman left that you split in two. I'm sorry, Nightwing. I should have noticed earlier."

Nightwing was in shock. "But he- He was going to- It wasn't me!'

"We're going to get you help, Nightwing," Superboy said, picking him up off the floor and carrying him out.

"You need to sleep," Miss Martian added.

Nightwing passed out, with no idea of what had happened.

* * *

**And the plot draws to a close. I feel and epilogue coming on, and then pressing the completed button on this one. Hope ya'll enjoyed it.**

**Have a plethoric day,**

**Shadow**


	7. Recovery

**Black Nightwing**

**Recovery**

Nightwing sat calmly in the Watchtower's garden looking out the window into space. He was supposed to be recovering from what happened to him, but he still wasn't exactly sure what had happened.

They said his mind had fractured, that he had been so stressed that he created a threat when no threat appeared. He was going to destroy Gotham.

He stared out into space. He would never have destroyed Gotham. It was his home. It's where his family lived.

But then again, his family was gone. They had been out of town when he became so stressed.

Nightwing furrowed his brow. Somewhere, inside, he knew Black Night was waiting to pounce. Somewhere, he still wanted to destroy Gotham.

But he still cared enough to prevent the destruction of his family, even if Black Night was insane.

Nightwing pressed his head against his knees. This was all so confusing! And no one had answered his questions.

Why had this happened? Was Black Night ever going to disappear? Would this happen again?

In the back of the room, Batman and Dr. Leslie Thompkins watched Nightwing as he rammed his fist into a tree several times and sunk to the floor, staring out the window again.

"He purposely splintered his personality to keep his identity secret," Thompkins explained. "The stress of being a college student, covering for you, and working as leader of the team caused him to splinter further. He wanted to impress you, but there was no crime for him to stop. So he created his own villain. One that only he could stop. This is all your fault."

Batman remained impassive. "Will he recover?"

"Only time will tell."

* * *

**Short little epilogue to send us off. I hope you all enjoyed this short story. Thanks to yumi 2482 for the inspiration. **

**Have an antiproblematic day,**

**Shadow**


End file.
